Gooseburgers with Rutabaga Fries

Last week I had scheduled and planned on all my calendars and agendas that I was going to make and post a recipe with venison.

Fast-forward to Thursday, I had got some great work done at the library. I was feeling creative. I felt like cooking. Initially I was thinking I would maybe make a gluten-free venison meatloaf. Upon opening my fridge it hit me that what I really wanted was to make a burger with rutabaga fries. I ran into a snag upon opening the meat. I get all my wild game from my father, in lout of Zach and I hunting (or Zach butchering a duck). I was told to pull from the freezer (which my dad has stocked at all times because that’s all he’ll eat). Not knowing any differently, I reached in and pulled out three packs. One was a deer we at in Michigan, with Zach’s aunt Pam and uncle Dave. One happened to be a heart. And then the package I opened on Thursday, I noticed had feathers. Definitely not venison. Goose.

Now I was raised on wild game and I have eaten goose many times in the past (one of my favorite recipes is for goose jerky), however, I will be very honest that it’s never been one of my favorites. And the look on Zach’s face when I said it was goose, was one of unsureness and a tinge of terror. To say we were both apprehensive of how dinner would turn out, would be an understatement. Granted by that point I was more nervous about whether he would like it, than eating it myself.

So I moved on with my plan and proceeded to make goose burgers. I learned to just use my food processor to grind meat up on my own from my father. And they looked like typical burgers when I was cooking them in the skillet. But then there was the moment of truth. When we put them on a bun of lettuce and had to eat them………

……..and they were delicious! They had great flavor because I had added red onion and garlic to the food processor and I had seasoned them very nicely. Zach even went in for seconds and ate the extra burger I had made.

I think the moral of the story is not to think so hard or psych yourself out for food. Cut out the anticipation of what something is going to taste like. I have to do this with liver, don’t think about what it will taste like. Or the first time I ate sushi. Don’t think about the texture. Because my mind and people were saying it’d be sliming, but my taste buds were telling me it was creamy and tasty. Season food well and give it a chance.

Goose Burger with Rutabaga Fries

1 lbs. goose meat

2 tbsp bacon fat

¼ of a red onion

1 clove of garlic

Sea salt and pepper to taste

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Rutabaga Fries

1 rutabaga

Melted coconut oil (2 tbsp)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

How to Make it Happen:

I started with the rutabaga fries because they’ll take the longest to not only bake, but cut.

Preheat oven to 350. Peel the Rutabaga. Cut into quarters. From there, cut each quarter down into little sticks. Toss with coconut oil, sea salt and pepper. Spread out evenly onto a baking sheet. Place in the oven, bake for 40 + minutes, until they are browned and crispy.

Now go back to your burger. Place the goose and bacon fat into the food processor and pulse. Add in the onion, clove of garlic, salt, pepper, and seasonings. Pulse until it is evenly blended together.

Form into 3 balls. Flatten into patties.

Heat a little bit more coconut oil into the bottom of a skillet, at a medium heat. Drop burgers into the pan. Keep flipping the burgers and cover. Cook until they are no longer pink in the middle.

Cut lettuce so you have a base the size of a burger and reserve another piece for the top. Place the burger on top and top accordingly to your own personal preferences. I was limited on resources in our fridge, so we had them only with lettuce. But if I were to make these again, I may crumble some goat cheese into the burger base. Or I would top them with sautéed mushrooms or crispy onions (or both). Skies the limit on how you can top them. But make them, so YOU will like them.